(PC) Sierra v. CDCR Director ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KENNETH ALAN SIERRA, No. 2:17-cv-2611 KJM AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 CDCR DIRECTOR, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. The United States Supreme Court has 18 ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 19 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional 20 circumstances, the district court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 21 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. 22 Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 23 “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must consider ‘the 24 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims 25 pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.’” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 26 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983)). The burden 27 of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to 28 most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish 1 || exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 2 Plaintiff requests counsel on the ground that he suffers from a nerve disorder that affects 3 || his vison and handwriting. ECF No. 48. The request will be denied because the assertion that 4 | plaintiff suffers from this condition is not enough to establish exceptional circumstances 5 || warranting appointment of counsel. If plaintiff chooses to file another motion for appointment of 6 || counsel, he should specify how his condition prevent him from proceeding without assistance and 7 || provide medical documentation supporting his claimed impairment. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’ s request for the appointment of 9 | counsel (ECF No. 48) is denied. 10 | DATED: September 3, 2019 ~ u Chthien—Chare ALLISON CLAIRE 12 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28